Each year, the prestigious Super Lawyers honor is given to the top five percent of attorneys in the State of Georgia. The program, maintained under the Thomson Reuters business umbrella, is designed to recognize attorneys who achieve excellence in the practice of law. Each Super Lawyer is measured through professional achievement and recognition by their peers, while finally going through a rigorous selection process.

The Super Lawyers website offers more details:
“The process of being recognized is a comprehensive, good-faith and detailed attempt to produce a list of lawyers that have attained high peer recognition, meet ethical standards and have demonstrated some degree of achievement in their field. Suffice to say, the selection procedures employed are very sophisticated, comprehensive and complex. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a rigorous, multiphase rating process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with third party research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.”

There is no way that a lawyer can “buy” their way onto the list, and the selection process requires no purchase of a membership; it is a true honor bestowed upon those that are deserving.

Smith, Gilliam, Williams & Miles, P.A., is proud to announce that Steve Gilliam, Brent Hatcher and Keith Whitaker were named Super Lawyers in the State of Georgia for 2012. Furthermore, Mr. Hatcher and Mr. Whitaker were also named 2012 Rising Stars, the recognition for top attorneys in the state who are under 40 years of age or who have been practicing law for 10 years or less.

The Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists will appear in Georgia Super Lawyers magazine as well as a spring issue of Atlanta magazine.

The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding lawyers that can be used as a resource for lawyers and consumers searching for legal counsel. Since Super Lawyers is intended to be used as an aid in selecting a lawyer, the list is limited to the lawyer ratings of those who can be hired and retained by the public, i.e., lawyers in private practice and Legal Aid attorneys.